All hook. No bait. Just gamers.

The BBGees

Here at Button Bash Gamers, we’ve assembled a small crack team of writers from the UK, USA to New Zealand.

Tom Killalea

Affectionately known as BBG’s dictator, Tom is actually about as intimidating as a Pikmin. As the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Button Bash Gamers, he spends his time correcting grammar, searching for article ideas, and contemplating his ever-growing backlog. He also enjoys adding to his frankly ridiculous The Legend of Zelda collection.

When not playing a variety of single-player games, you may find Tom writing them. He was a writer and narrative designer on isometric RPG Seven: The Days Long Gone and other indie projects, and is always on the lookout for interesting stories to tell. Just don’t get him started on loot boxes.

Although growing up with an old PC with the likes of Rollercoaster Tycoon installed on it, Jo’s passion for gaming was cemented in her friend’s dining room at a LAN party. There’s nothing quite like getting the winning kill in a tense game of Unreal Tournament to really stoke the fire. Technology and gaming have moved on since, but her love for it has never dwindled.

Now a fan of time-swallowing RPGs and story-driven games, you can usually find Jo on the PlayStation or Xbox passing the time hunting for treasure, eliminating the bad guys and always being spotted in stealth missions.

Louise Davies, otherwise known as Nesbitt to her friends, has been button bashing since the mid-90s upon holding her first SNES controller. Her childhood sweetheart, the N64, made Nesbitt a strong lover of all things Banjo-Kazooie! She holds an eclectic taste in terms of gaming genres and styles and holds no particular preference between console and PC.

Nesbitt is an avid bottle cap collector and currently keeps a cap stash in a secure underground vault (not the kitchen) in fear of atomic annihilation. Nesbitt would say her greatest achievement to date is the 2000 hours, and counting, accrued in Dota 2. Don’t ask.

If you’re looking for a single-player focused writer and gamer, George is about as single as they come. Although he’s known to dabble in multiplayer ventures from time to time, his main focuses tend to be on big-budget adventure games and then complaining about not having anyone to play with.

George’s favourite content to write includes commentary on the gaming industry as a whole, features on recent games he’s really enjoyed and speculation on upcoming titles. If that doesn’t sound fun, he’s sure to write something controversial at some point. In the future, George hopes that his work gets spotted and he gets taken to the top of the pile, where he’ll be showered with praise and games. Alternatively, he’d settle for just one of his tweets going viral.

If you enjoy his work, you can also spot George on WhatCulture, where you’re sure to have disagreed with one of the articles he’s written in the past.

Dan’s journey with games began at the age of five with his father’s Sega Mega Drive and a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. Years later he was gifted a console of his own, the N64, and upon mastering Ocarina of Time his passion for games snowballed with his console list and game catalogue growing wildly out of control.

His obsession for games led him to study their development in university where he found he had a great interest in game history and a flair for animation. Now in his mid-twenties, Dan finds himself with an unhealthy obsession with anything vaguely anime related, a large back catalogue of time-consuming JRPG’s, and myriad of odd Japanese titles that are probably best described as sketchy.

Cartoons, manga, comics, anime, and of course video games – if you ask Howell about any of those topics, don’t be shocked if an hour later he’s still going. Somewhere along the way, he’ll have managed to interweave a conversation about how a time-travelling teenage Jean Grey could totally beat a demonic version of Super Sonic in a fight, or how Piccolo would be a better fit for Super Smash Bros. than Goku.

Loving Lets Plays before they were even a thing, Howell spent his childhood watching his big brother play all the biggest JRPGs. Not allowed to play them himself until the game had been beaten twice, with and without a walk-through, he learnt to appreciate the stories games could tell. Once he got his hands on games himself, it was a whole other ballpark. Game mechanics became a fascination, leading to a Bachelors Degree in Games Design before he began testing video games on an amateur level.

In his writing, Howell focusses on how well games can demonstrate an understanding of their themes, as well as how the building blocks of a title’s gameplay can come together to create the whole. By dissecting games, he strives for a better understanding of the media.

“Can I try?”
The last words spoken by 5 year old Danny the Non-Gamer, before deep diving into a life of fandom, digital expression and airborne controllers. All that’s left of that sweet, wide-eyed kid is the bearded, opinionated, man-child that has purchased enough versions of the same Elder Scrolls games to pay for Todd Howard’s house.

Whether slinging fireballs, shooting Nazis, doin’ barrel rolls or desperately trying to explain the dangers of pay-to-win gaming models to anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path, Danny has lived the majority of his life with his head stuck in the gaming clouds.

When he’s not gaming, writing or writing about gaming, he can usually be found annoying his wife, playing with his kids or pondering life’s biggest mysteries. Mysteries like “What is the secret to happiness?”, “Where did we come from?”, and “Why is Unbreakable Patches such an insufferable dillhole?”

Joe Dominic

Fuelled by black coffee and a hatred for lootboxes, Joe has come a long way since his earliest memory of video games; watching over a friend’s shoulder while he played Gex: Enter the Gecko. After being allowed 5 minutes to die and die and die again before having the controller taken away from him, he knew he had to find out more about this grey, plastic, buttoned contraption that let him control a wise-cracking lizard in a tux.

Two decades, a few consoles, and countless games later; Joe is still finding out more about games every day. He never did complete Gex though… His favourite console would be the PS2 but please don’t tell his PS4.

Some of his favourite games over the years have been Shadow of the Colossus, Bioshock, Resident Evil4, and Bloodborne. Outside of games, he loves films; mainly Sci-Fi and horror. He does have a softer side; he loves the Katamari games. Then again, those games do make you roll everyone up and send them into the sun. Video games really do let us live out our fantasies after all, don’t they?

Hailing from across the seas, all the way in New Zealand, Doc acquired his first obsession with video games hosting LAN parties dedicated to Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit, put together with cobbled together computers and monitors. From there, the obsession grew to the point where he began shoehorning video game analyses into his university work.

From there, the path was clear. Doc made it his personal mission to make video game players smarter. Whether it was by recommending games, pointing out parts of games that people may have missed, or simply by yelling at petty injustices, his aim is always to make you a more informed gamer. Along the way, he tries very hard not to swear (mostly unsuccessfully) and has an irrational obsession with red wine.

Stepping into a flat filled with gaming and anime related plushies, figures, posters, and comics is probably as good an introduction as any. While a background in writing draws Gabs towards powerful storytelling, her love of everything silly is what will challenge you to put down Call Of Duty and go for a few rounds of Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash.

Reviewing games has become a love that only comes second to her growing toy collection (and maybe her husband, she thinks she better add). Gabs aims to write a truthful and cheerful account of her journey through play. She only hopes that readers enjoy the ride.

Gill’s passion for gaming developed at a young age, watching her elder brothers hog the ‘shared’ PlayStation. Luckily, they grew up and lost interest, finally leaving the controls uncontested. Gill’s PlayStation days were dominated with Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Wipeout and Tomb Raider, until she discovered the wonders of PC gaming.

Now a keen PC and indie games lover, Gill has a soft-spot for complex management and single player games, and is constantly hunting early access and crowd funded indies for the next hidden gem. Outside of gaming you will most likely find her curled up with a hefty sci-fi or horror book, drinking tea.